Refrigerator.



H. CARLSON.

REFRIGERATOR.

APPLICATION FILED APR.2. 1911.

Patented J mm 4, 1918,

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

u u I m I I I I I I 1 I 1 a u I w I 0 a I I w a Ira/min? H. CARLSON.

REFRIGERATOR. APPLICATION FILED AHLZI I917- Patented June-4, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHE ET 2- III/III I Guclsan I-IILMER CARLSON, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

REFRIGERATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 41, 1918.

Application filed April 2, 1917. Serial No. 159,077.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HILMER OARLSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Refrigerators, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to refrigerators particularly of the type employing ice as a refrigerating medium and called ice chests or ice boxes.

The object of the invention is to provide an ice chest of improved construction, particularly with respect to the arrangement of the interior part to increase the utility and convenience of the device Without sacrilice of economy. The invention also aims to provide an improved form of drain and an improved material for filling the space between the outer and inner walls of the box.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate one form of my invention Figure 1 is a front elevation of an ice chest embodying my invention showing one of the doors opened;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view with the doors removed and the shelves and ice container arranged in a different manner from that shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical central section through the outer box;

Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal section of the ice container;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a modified form of my invention;

Fig. 6 is a vertical cross section of the same;

Fig. 7 is a longitudinal cross section taken on the line 77 of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 8 is a cross sectional view of a modified form of ice container.

The refrigerator comprises an outer box or chest 1 having a pair of doors 2, 3 which are hinged along the sides as shown in Fig. 1 and provided with suitable means for holding the doors in closed position as indicated at 4: in Fig. 1. The box 1 consists of an outer shell 5 preferably made of wood provided with suitable frame members 6 to which is secured an inner shell or lining 7 which is made of sheet metal. The sheet metal lining 7 may be supported in any suitable manner leaving a space 8 between the lining and the outer shell 5. This space 8 I pack with curled hair, as shown at 9 in Fig. 3.

I have found that the use of curled hair for insulation is highly beneficial. The

stiffness of the material prevents the same from packing together as is common with other materials now employed. The low degree of heat which is to be insulated has no effect upon curled hair as would be the case where employed for packing steam pipes or the like. It is not subject to the ravages of moths and is otherwise unaffected.

Within the ice chest 1 I provide an ice container in the shape of a prismatic box 10 which occupies only a small part of the width of the inside of the box as may be seen from Figs. 1, 2 and 3. This box is filled with crushed or cracked ice 11 which may be sprinkled with salt to form a freezing mixture.

I provide two sets of shelves 12 and 13 which consist of a top platform 15 and legs or side walls 16 and 17 upon which the platform 15 is supported, each shelf being inde pendent of all the other shelves. These shelves are of a length suitable to occupy the full length of the box in a fore and aft direction as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and the shelves are preferably of a width equal to half of the width of the space remaining between the ice container and the inside wall, of the box 1 as shown in Fig. 2. The consequence of this is that the ice container 10 may be placed at the center as shown in Fig. 1 or may be placed at one side as shown in Fig. 2, and the shelves arranged accordingly. This possibility of different arrangement is highly advantageous where two classes of goods are to be kept in the same ice box or ice chest. That is to say, if some material which has a fairly strong odor is to be preserved with something which might absorb .the odor, the shelves and ice container are arranged as shown at Fig. 1.

This arrangement is also advantageous in that it places the refrigerating element, namely the ice container 10 in close proximity to all of the objects. However, where the same class of material is to be contained the ice container 10 is placed at one side wall and the shelves 12, 13 are placed side by side assshown in Fig. 2. The particular advantage of this arrangement is that both doors 2 and 3 need not be opened as widely as they must be opened in Fig. 1 to obtain access to all off the articles in the ice box.

It is also to be noted that the crack between the doors 2 and 3 comes at the point where any possible transfer of air from one side to the other might occur. This tends to lessen the possibility of any odors being conveyed from one side to the other.

The ice container 10 is provided with a suitable lid or cover 18 and a draining opening 19. Suitable handles may be sunk in recesses in the side walls or end walls if desired, these being omitted for the sake of clearness.

I have found it desirable in order to prevent too rapid melt-ing of the cracked ice to employ a screen 20 above the bottom of the ice container to permit the water to run down into the space 21 as shown in Fig. 4:. Such draining of the crushed ice l1 obviously prevents any circulation of liquid and presents full contact with the side walls and thus the ice tends to melt more slowly.

In Figs. 5, 6 and 7 I have illustrated a modification of my invention. In these figures I have shown a horizontal box, that is to say one which has the cover opening at the top and is supported upon one of its longer sides as by means of the legs 22 23. Two sets of shelves 2% and 25 are provided for the same purpose described in connection with Figs. 1 to 1. The ice container 26 is similarly constructed having, however, in this case a shoit piece of drain pipe 27 opening from the bottom of the container. The inner lining 28 which is of sheet metal is provided with a trough or gutter 29 extend ing across the full width of the inside of the box so that the ice container 26 may be moved to any position in the box and still have its discharge pipe 27 resting in the groove or gutter 29. The groove or gutter has a discharge opening which opens into a trap member 31, this trap member in turn having a discharge opening 32 through which the water resulting from melting of the cracked ice runs out of the ice chest. A suitable basin or other receiver for the water such as shown in dotted lines at 83 is placed under the outlet 32. In this construction the top or cover is formed of two sections 34 and 35 which are hinged together at the center as shown at 36 and one or which is hinged to the side as shown at 37.

Fig. '8 shows a modification of the ice container in which an open pipe 38 extends down to the bot-tom of the container 26 and has an opening 40 communicating with the space below the screen 41. A piece of flexible hose connected to a suction pump is inserted in the open pipe 38 and the water which has accumulated in the bottom of the ice container may be drawn oil in that way without removing the ice container from the chest or box.

While I have described my invention with reference to the details of a particular modification it is to be understood that the in vention may appear in other forms.

I/Vhat I claim is:

1. In combination an outer box or housing, a container for containing a refrigerating medium, a first set of shelf members, a second set of shelf members, the combined width of the shelf members being suificient to substantially fill the space between the container and the walls of the box, said shelves and container being movable to permit the shelves to lie wholly on one side of the container or upon both sides of thecontainer.

2. In an ice chest, an exterior box having a door at the top thereof an interior ice container of a length substantially equal to the interior length of the box, said box having a transverse channel or gutter in the bottom wall and said container having a drippipe discharging into said gutter, said container being movable transversely in the box.

3. In an ice chest, an exterior box having a door at the top and an interior ice container of a length substantiallyequal to the interior length of the box, said box having a transverse channel or gutter in the bottom wall and said container having a drip pipe discharging into said gutter, said container being movable transversely in the box,

and a plurality of shelves adapted to lie all on one side or upon opposite sides of the ice container.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 30th day of March, A. D. 1917.

I-IILMER CARLSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, .0. G. 

